How to setup laptop for access to the domain and when out in the field not connected to the domain

I have a new Server 2008 network, previously netware and workgroup only.

Have a laptop that will be connected to the domain and used out of the office.

What do I have to do to confgure the network so that when it is not connected to the domain and is out in the field the user can access the notebook and be presented with the same profile information as when in the office (desktop, outlook file, start;programs, etc.)

Simple. Logon to the computer once as the user who will need it. Windows caches the last 10 logons by default, so once logged int, you can disconnect it from the network and still logon and get the same profile config. (Easy to test too).

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cwsoft05Author Commented: 2010-11-10

That appears easy, but today in our office, on our 2003 domain, a user had either inadvertently connected to the domain or always had (we don't have everyone connected to the domain as it is a mixed netware/windows environment and not everyone needs access to the windows server) and when they went home, they got a message that they could not find the domain controller.

To test, a member of our IT staff connected to the domain, then disconnected the network cable and then again tried to login with the domain and got the same message.

So your comments do not appear to always work. Why did it not in the case of a different 2003 network laptop or workstation when not connected to the network.

Our Server 2003 domain, and recently the 2008 domain will always let a user log into the machine while it is off the network...

Do all of your users have access to the Novel side of things? Possibly setup a machine with no Novel settings at all and see if it is any different.

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cwsoft05Author Commented: 2010-11-10

This was also tested on a desktop (no wireless card). Network cable was removed. Said it could not find the domain as mentioned in the kb link above, indicating that caching would be disabled. As for wireless access on the laptop. Don't know if it was disabled, but if wireless was used, it likely did not have the key and the wireless is on a 192.168.1.xxx segment, not 172.16.xx.xx segment and thus cannot see the domain controller by design.

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cwsoft05Author Commented: 2010-11-10

Netware is our primary network and will continue to be. Removing netware from the scenario is not an option.

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cwsoft05Author Commented: 2010-11-10

You say when it is connected to a network, it will look for a domain controller. In a hotel, it is always connecting to the hotel's wireless network for Internet access so I am not clear on your comment. They cannot disable wireless and get internet access. You are implying that if wireless is enabled, it will try to access the network and look for a domain which will fail.

1. Enable Interactive logon: Number of previous logons to cache (in case domain controller is not available) in Active directory Group Policy. You can find this setting in Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Security Options, find the Interactive logon: Number of previous logons to cache, enable the setting and accept the default value of 10. By doing this once the laptop user logins to domain, his logon information would be cached in the laptop.

2. You can create a local user in the laptop and ask the user to login with local account if he is not in the office.